When The Time To Lead Is Now..

“A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have, but how many leaders you create.” Whose quote it that?

While some of you flip quickly over to Google to find out, some of you know already. Kudos to you. I saw it the first time on Twitter and my life was pretty much changed by it.

Admittedly, the time I spent in Florida at the #PMILIM conference was also a catalyst for the recent growth in my leadership. I got to hear presentations about leadership and coloring outside of the lines (only those of you that have ever worked with a PM get how ironic that last statement is), met a panel of women in Project Management, met program/project/portfolio management from around the globe, and also got to spend some quality time with some good friends that I have made over the years leading projects.

When is a good time to become a better leader? When should a leader decide to up their game and get better than they already are? I know some people who are very good at what they do; they are heads of major organizations, churches, companies and are responsible for billions of dollars collectively, I’m sure. If I had to ask myself how many of them felt that they needed leadership coaching or a “refresher” on leadership, some of them would state no. Vehemently so. They would more than likely launch immediately into a diatribe about all of their past successes, the financial goals that they have blown out of the water, the bonuses that they have earned, and possibly how they spent them. An unfortunate amount of them would speak on what they DID to become great leaders. Few of them would talk about what they are doing right now to leave their legacies of leadership.

Why is that?

Now is the time to lead. No, not the way you led twenty years ago when you first got your first “management” gig, but in the way that your current team needs you to lead today. Yes, there are some changes that need to be made to your approach. Trust me on this. Google it.

Surely you have spent time this past year speaking to each of your team members about what THEY need to become better leaders. Undoubtedly, you have closely monitored the goals that they put in place last year and are holding them accountable for meeting those goals and SERVING that team by removing the obstacles that may be in their way, yes? Of course, you are.

But for the rest of us, we may have de-prioritized the need to lead our team. I get it. 2016 budget planning. End of year project closeouts. Onboarding of new team members to prepare for the year ahead. I get it. But the time to lead is now.

What are your plans to create leaders in 2016?